Our Present Salvation
What’s in
it?
Continuing from our salvation in the past until
the day we die (or Jesus returns to take us with Him), the Holy Spirit is at
work in every believer performing the divine side of our present salvation.
The new life created from having been
made alive in Christ during our past salvation continues its attempt to
transform the balance of our soul (mind, will and desires) to resemble Christ’s
- Acts 2:47, 1 Corinthians 1:18, Philippians 2:12-13,
Romans 12:1-2.
This involves both the supernaturally transforming work
of the Holy
Spirit that Jesus taught – John 14:15-17, 26, 15:26, 16:7-15; and the Apostle
Paul urged in Galatians
5:25; as well as the believer’s perseverance – Luke 8:15; Romans 5:3-4; 1 Timothy 4:16;
Hebrews 10:36, 11:27, 12:1; James 1:3-4, 1:12, 5:11; 2 Peter 1:6 and Revelation
2:2-3, 2:19.
The
Holy Spirit use the uniqueness in Christ’s Word as stated:
John 15:3 You are already clean
because of the word I have spoken to you.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is
alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to
dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and
attitudes of the heart.
The
Holy Spirit nudges us in the direction of what’s real (So, don’t
get what’s real twisted):
John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you
into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he
hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
The believer
is to deny self (evil or self-centered desires), persevere and follow Jesus:
Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple
must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
The proof that you were saved in the past is the continued
transformation in the present – Philippians 1:6. This is because unlike us God finishes what
He begins, He is able to continue through completion. So the result would produce an increase in
one’s faith walk and the strength in Christ.
What is
it like?
Definitions
Sanctification is
the continuous inclination of the Holy Spirit to maintain and strengthen the
holy and righteous disposition of the believer’s new spirit life. God the
Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and Him alone, is responsible for
this side of spiritual cleansing.
Perseverance is
our voluntary continuance of trusting faith and well-doing in keeping step with
the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in our new spirit life. It involves our
continuous denying of self and removing the obstacles to the soul embracing the
sanctifying efforts of our new spirit life. This does not flow naturally as a
result of our past salvation. It
is our choosing to put on for ourselves the already accomplished virtues in
Jesus Christ.
What I mean by “already accomplished”
is that Christ virtues that we must put on do
not need to gradually emerge in us, as in the case with evolving or
rehabilitation. Gradual emergence is a constraint that we create. The virtues of Christ come fully functional
and ready to enable us to be honest, if the virtue is honesty, to be merciful
if the virtue is mercy, to be pure if the virtue is purity. This is because
Jesus’ accomplished work on the cross is substitutional,
it is not rehabilitative. This is why He
often told people that their faith had made them whole.
How does it work?
Past
Salvation Made Us Safe. Present
Salvation Make Us Sound. The truth is that at best, through our past salvation,
we’ve made it safely to heaven’s spiritual collision shop. Damaged and soiled, yet in capable, caring
hands. Once there, it’s up to us to make
use of our new spirit life insurance (new covenant). So don’t be mistaken, our confession
for the forgiveness of sin (during past salvation) does not make us spiritually
whole, no more than a damaged car merely being towed into a collision shop
repairs it. Confession completely reconciles us with the Father, just as being
towed completely removes the vehicle from further damage by traffic. Conversion
only positions us for transformation, as does sitting in the collision
shop. The subsequent and necessary
repairs are made during present salvation.
Before we were saved, we were like a wrecked automobile that could not be driven; damaged and useless in
the middle of life’s highway. Forgiveness
is towing that useless vehicle to the collision shop, because it’s being given
another chance, rather than being junked.
The auto is safe in the
careful and skillful (and expensive) hands of the mechanic, but it is not sound yet. Repairs can take a long time. It could be weeks before it is sound again;
and if we really messed things up, months even, to order, rebuild or make the parts. Finally, addition time will be needed to
paint it.
Just as an automobile’s replacement parts
arrive whole (already accomplished), fully functional and do not need to evolve
in order to function properly, what’s needed in order to repair our life also
comes fully functional and ready for use. This is why only Jesus can make us
safe and sound. God made us safe by first justifying us,
whereby we are no longer subjected to be judge by the Mosaic Law. Then through
the Holy Spirit’s supernatural
sanctification and our natural
perseverance, we are presently being made sound - Acts
2:47, 1 Corinthians 1:18, Philippians 2:12-13; Romans 12:1-2. But
we become sound to the extent that are putting on
Christ’s accomplished work for the particular damage in our lives. You and I are wrecks in varying stages
soundness. All of us will be in God’s
collision shop covering the weakened parts of our soul with Christ’s virtues,
until He completely exchanges our bodies at the end of this age.
Therefore, we must continue to persevere in
denying self, persevering and putting on Christ’s virtues, just as much as Christ
needed to persevere through remaining on the cross. As we persevere in His
virtues, the Spirit transforms our appetite, tendencies and desires to make our
soul sounder. This is the supernatural
and natural work of the
two-sided coin of spiritual cleansing during our present salvation.
Present Salvation Involves an Exchange
Just as on the cross where the imperfect (you
and I) was substituted with the perfect (Christ), through sanctification the
stain and stench from our sins are removed and in their place is the
progressive implanting of some virtue of Christ throughout our soul. That’s how
we take on the image of Christ. So, it’s never a magical deliverance from the
stain and stench of sin, but it’s the progressive substitution by our new
spirit life that conquers our sinful soul.
How long this takes depends on how much faith we have to deny self,
persevere and put on Christ’s virtues! I’ve seen it happen instantly and I’ve
seen it occur over years!
Take note of this: If you believe you have
accepted Jesus Christ for justification, yet at the same time will not accept
Him for sanctification, then not only have you chosen to live a defeated life,
but you may have not been saved in the past. Our present salvation involves a
series of prayerful acts of trust and sacrifice in order for deliverance to
manifest and fruitful living for you, your family and your community of faith.